The Passport Saga

So, as I mentioned, Friday is the start of the adventure to Belize. Now those of you that follow my trips know that something unforeseen happens to me every time. A lost ATM card, missing hotel reservation, missed flight, wrong train.. you get the picture. Well this time its a passport problem. Only for once its not me with the issue, it is my friend Ashely.

If I back up three days, I get a text from Ashley saying “I have a BIG problem”. I think, awww it can’t be that bad. Then she tells me her passport had expired and she didn’t notice until then. WOW.. BIG.. PROBLEM. So now we’re in all out fire fighting mode. How can you expedite a passport. A quick google search will reveal dozens of expediting services from FedEx to purpose built companies. However, digging in none of these are faster than 4 weeks.. not going to work. However checking the State Department, we find that a 72 hour emergency expedite is available. Only because of the damn ‘RONA, they have reduced availability. So we try and find an appointment online.. nothing. Ashley calls the emergency line to see if she can plead her case… nothing. Then we try and widen the appointment search an low and behold I find one for Monday in Colorado… but before I can book it, its gone. Finally I find one in Hawaii, book it, but logistics and cost are just ridiculous so that’s not an option.

Well, then Ashley had a brilliant idea. Call her state representative. This got a little traction in that they said they would put a case worker on it and were definitely sympathetic to her cause. Today we wait to hear on that front. But Saturday, I also get a text from Ashley saying she might have a lead on a connection through a friend who works in the Senate. They said they might be able to find someone to sponsor her for the expedited process.. again we wait.

Thus here we are, four days to departure and everything is up in the air. I think I will likely go on to Belize on my own, you know I travel well solo, but a lot will depend on if we can get pre-paid dive and lodging packages refunded fully or even partially. The other option is to possibly delay the trip, but with my new job I’m not really sure if that’s an option for me either.

So there you have it. Travel drama from the world of Wild William’s Travel. If it can happen, it will, but you can never let it ruin your trip/life/experience. It is all for the best and always turns out with a great story.

Stay tuned for the resolution….